The Learning Curve
by RoseFromTheGrave
Summary: Hermione accepted her first job from the ministry thinking it offered her a chance to get away from everything in England for 2 years, but wasn't expecting to be saddled with Draco Malfoy. Draco, separated from everything, a continent away thinks Azkaban would have been preferable. Little does he know Death Eaters are out for his blood and Salem, MA is known for its witch hunts.
1. Trial

I've been toying with this one for a while. A plot bunny that I simply can't get out of my head. I'll admit I'm not used to writing things without a great deal of drama and angst so this is a new one for me. I love the idea of Draco learning about the muggle world. I think the only way we can truly rid ourselves of prejudice is to understand what the other persons life and culture is like, so I feel this would be a wonderful way for Draco Malfoy to stop being such a prat.

Thank you to everyone who read Lady Bluebell if that brought you here, and if not, check it out.

* * *

The court was polished and cleaned for this very well broadcasted event. Wizards and witches were packed into the room with the hope of seeing every Death Eater that had killed the people they loved being served with a kiss. Hermione was in the front row with Ron, Ginny and Harry. They had all agreed that they weren't there to satisfy a need but to know that it was happening.

"Draco Malfoy, you are being tried for murder, use of unforgivable curses, and the attempted murder of Al–"

"Sir." Harry's voice silenced everyone, every head including Draco Malfoy's turned to look. "I would like to testify on behalf of Mr. Malfoy." No one denied Harry of that right. The Minister of Magic motioned for Harry to come forward and he approached the bench.

"I was at the tower the night Dumbledore died, Draco couldn't do it. He lowered his wand. When we were captured by Snatchers he was asked to identify us and he didn't. He was forced to do what he had to do and at the end of the war he was able to break free from Voldemort's side."

"You are suggesting that we just let him go?" a magistrate member said with eyebrows raised.

"No, we personally think that a state of probation would be better suited." Arthur Weasley said with a tense look on his face.

"We will discuss this over a short recess. We will convene in 15 minutes." Half of the room cleared out and the murmur of the court members discussed matters. Hermione sat in the front still, catching Draco's eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking away. He looked horrible, not like the usual clean and controlled Malfoy.

"Do you want some hot chocolate, 'Mione?" Ron asked and she smiled, "Two please." He eyed her confused for a moment but complied bringing the hot cocoa back to her. She set hers on the bench and walked over to Malfoy, whose hands were magically bounded.

"Stay still." She told him pulling the headband from her hair and pulling his…gross hair back from his face. He grimaced and she could tell that he wasn't happy about her touching him. "Are you thirsty?"

"With all the drinks they give us at Wizagamot, how could I be?" he said sarcastically and she lifted the cup of hot cocoa to his lips. He took a sip carefully and Hermione pulled it away. "Didn't poison it did you, Granger?"

"I don't play dirty like you do." She said thinking back to when her ex-boyfriend Ron had been poisoned because of Malfoy slipping it into Dumbledore's wine. She lifted it to his mouth again and he took another sip.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Ron said looking at her confused. "That bastard doesn't deserve your mercy."

"He is a human, Ronald, and I will choose who is worthy of my mercy." She lifted the cup up again and Draco turned his head away. He shouldn't have accepted anything from her. It left him with a acrid taste in his mouth that ruined the hot chocolate for him. "Alright then." She said walking back to her seat to drink her own. The court convened and some people snapped pictures of Draco Malfoy with his hair held back in a pink headband. That would be a humiliating picture.

She sat back down between Ron and Harry. Ron held up her hot chocolate for her and she smiled. They had been through a lot together, broke up, but nothing would tear apart their friendship. It happened fast, both losing so much in the war and when it was over, they wanted different things. Ron wanted to stay and rebuild the burrow with his family, go into business with George for a little while he tried out for Quidditch teams and Hermione wanted to study and learn and travel. She wanted to go to new places and test new theories. Harry had always been the buffer between them and with him finding his own way and Ginny, they realized they couldn't always rely on Harry being a medium for them. It was a good break up, if there ever was one.

"Order, order." The Minister said and everyone took their seats. "We have come to a decision. Hermione Granger, please stand."

Hermione was surprised to hear her name and stood up moving closer to the minister. "Miss Granger, you are traveling to America to teach at the Salem's Witch Academy correct?"

"Yes sir," she said confused as to why he asked when he was the one that picked her in the first place. Of course looking back at Draco and seeing the mirrored shock pieces started to fall into place. She wondered if giving him the hot chocolate may have been the ultimate downfall for her in the decision making.

"We would like you to bring along Mr. Malfoy and watch over him for the period of a year and six months. He will not be allowed a wand while under your care. If possible we would like Mr. Malfoy to work with muggles, so he can better understand their world." Draco's eyes widened. Hermione knew that at this point he was wishing for the dementor's kiss. "

"Consider it your first muggle studies class Mr. Malfoy. If you do anything we deem unacceptable you will be sent to Azkaban for the total of ten years." The magistrate said with a finality that felt like a heavy stone dropped unto him.

"You want me to live with _her?"_ he thrashed about looking absolutely mad. He gnashed his teeth at the guard. "She'll kill me! Just what you all want, isn't it?"

He turned to stare at the crowd. "I never had a fucking chance. Ever."

Draco wrenched the pink headband out of his hair the second they unshackled him. He smashed the thing against the tiny rectangle mirror in the corner of the room, glaring extra hard when it landed in the metal toilet they had generously put in the cell for him to use. Of course he had a little privacy with the four walls of the cell and a sturdy door with only one window in it, but he was a Malfoy and he was treated like an animal in a cage.

His eyes caught his reflection in the mirror and he instantly felt sick. He ran the water in the sink and lowered his head into the cold water. Of course they had offered him access to a public shower, but he wasn't about to take a shower with a bunch of blood thirsty Death Eaters that were out for his life. His hair had properly soaked through when the door opened. He twisted, getting an earful of water as he did to see the intruder.

"They told me you haven't properly showered in months."

"Do you intend to know all my business, Granger?" he growled. Sticking his head further into the water.

"Only your every day itinerary, eating habits, allergies, and bowel movements." she said flatly, for a moment fooling him that she was serious. "When they were debriefing me about you I remembered that I still had some things that might come in handy."

"Sod off, Granger. I don't need your bloody help."

"Listen, Malfoy, you are about to walk out of here a free man, by most standards." she raised her eyebrows, removing the shampoo and the scissors from her bag. "I think you might want to show the world you're ready for a fresh start."

She didn't wait for his reply as she approached, rolling up her sleeves to scrub the grime out of his hair. He flinched when her fingers dug into the rat's nest on his head, but Draco couldn't admit to himself that human contact was solely missed. He turned his head to make it easier, his eyes focusing on the creamy skin of her forearm as her fingers massaged his scalp. The angry red scar stood out like a sore thumb, a terrible reminder of who she was so obvious on her skin. He had hoped that the scar would have become a jumble of lines, but no, the enchanted silver blade left it clear as the day it was carved.

She wasn't gentle with the towel as she dried his hair. She dropped it to the ground and gestured to the skinny cot he had been sleeping on. He didn't say a word, fearing she would take it as a thank you for everything she was doing. She cut his hair short. He winced every time a clump of the hair fell to his lap.

"I took the liberty of packing up some essentials from your home," she said as she dug out clean clothing from her bag. "We are on a tight schedule. You've become quite the target and coupled with me I'm sure that would make it a kill two birds with one stone for any Death Eaters still on the loose. We need to be out of here in twenty minutes."

"Are you going to stay in here while I change, or will you allow me that much privacy?"

"Trust me, Malfoy, you are no charity case to me. I'm being forced into this as much as you are, you disgust me. I can't honestly look at you without thinking about how much of a waste of space you truly are, but I'm not cruel. I won't make you feel less of a human like you've made me."

Hermione had a frown fixed on her face when they flooed into her childhood home. It was dark, but preserved since her parents had left. She was happy they didn't end up selling the house when they moved to Australia, hoping that was a sign that some seed of doubt was in their mind about leaving in the first place.

"Where are we?"

"My childhood home. It's warded, so we will stay here for the night and leave in the morning. I have flights booked for us."

"This is your house?" he said looking around the spacious empty parlor. In first year his father did do a little digging about the mudblood, finding that for muggles her parent's earned a fairly high amount and if he was correct lived in one of the highest earning suburbs in London. He remembered the beating he got for talking so much about a mudblood. He still had a scar on his back from the cane lashing he received.

"My parents moved during the war. I'll set up a bedroom for us for the night."

"A bedroom? As in one?" he looked around. "There is probably five other bedrooms here you could set me up in."

"Four, but I plan to ensure you don't escape during the night on my watch. Not that you would really have anywhere to run to."

She led him upstairs to her old bedroom, watching as he took in the surroundings.

"What is it your parent's do for a living?"

"Dentists...or they were, before the war."

"What does a dentist do?"

"They are healers for teeth." she said opening her bedroom door, freezing when she realized that it was exactly as she left it. She drew the purple curtains, letting the last of the day light stream into the light purple room. She was glad that her charm on the door had worked to keep them from going into the room.

"Of course you would have enough books to last you till the end of time." Draco noted looking at the book shelf next to her small twin bed. She ignored him however, instead letting her fingers drift over the soft blue comforter on the bed. She grabbed the throw pillow from her chest at the end of the bed, pulling it to her chest, hugging it tightly.

"Where am I sleeping?"

"On the floor." she gritted out, suddenly not feeling so charitable. It felt wrong that her room had been untouched even if it was her doing. She had secretly hoped that it would be empty like the rest of the house. She dropped the throw pillow on the floor and focused on making it into a mattress. It transfigured perfectly, making her sigh in relief. She busied herself on warding the doors and windows to warn her if he attempted to open them, adding a stinging hex to them for good measure.

"Our flight is at four am, we'll need to be there at least an hour early. I have muggle law enforcement meeting us there to get us through the security checkpoints faster." She reached into the trunk and pulled out a quilt her grandmother had sown up for her. She almost didn't give it to him, feeling sick as she looked at the images on the blanket, her grandmother's way of reminding her of all the good times they had in Paris. "Here. Don't ruin it."

He grunted pulling it over his shoulders and dropping on the transfigured mattress. If he was going to have to deal with her being an emotional child all year he would rather gag himself with the blanket before the morning comes. He faced away from her at first, unable to sleep he turned back to watch her slowly go through her things in the bedroom, a small ratty doll on the shelving had all of her attention before she stuffed it into the beaded bag. He was convinced that she had half of Hogwarts in there.

After an hour she finally stopped shuffling around. Draco watched her leave the room and then come back with night clothes on. She slipped into the bed without a word to him. Locking the door with her wand and tucking it under her pillow.

Hermione kicked the mattress he was on to wake him up, he didn't move an inch so she leaned down and shook his shoulder. He jolt upwards grabbing her leg and pulling her to the ground. She screamed out as he wrestled her to the ground, eyes in a daze, not quite awake. He held her down with a hand at her throat, focusing on her face in the dismal lighting.

"Malfoy!"

"Shit!" he yelled, releasing her throat and scrambling across the room. He was shaking from the sudden arousal from sleep. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he remembered where he was and why he was here.

"I'm ok." she said, rubbing her neck and gathering her things back up. She made a mental note to never wake him up with a physical touch again.

"Don't fucking touch me again, Granger." he picked himself off of the ground, brushing the imaginary dust off of himself.

"My mistake." She glared at him, pulling her grandmother's quilt from the floor and tucking it into the bag.

Draco was not amused with the cab ride to the airport. His eyes were as wide as saucers as the cars passed by and Hermione was convinced that he had never taken the Knight's bus. He tried to seem aloof with the things he was seeing but Hermione knew that look. She had the same one the first time she saw the Wizarding world.

* * *

I have more written and it will be published shortly.

tell me what you think! 3 much love, Rose.


	2. First day

I decided to base this story in Salem because of it's history with the Salem Witch trials.

I hope everyone is liking it so far.

* * *

"Stop touching me, Granger." Draco said and Hermione looked over at him and realized that her blanket was touching his leg. She shook her head and went back to reading her book. A stewardess came over and handed Hermione some red wine and she took it before looking to Draco.

"Do you want anything?"

"Yeah, bring me some firewhisk-"

"He'll have a ginger ale, please don't give him any alcohol he is a violent drunk." Draco glared daggers at her as the waitress walked away and she let out a small laugh.

"There isn't any butterbeer or Firewhiskey in the muggle world." She whispered to him as the stewardess walked away.

"Why the hell not?" he practically yelled.

"Oh he's angry, were you sharing your wine with him?" the stewardess said as she got back with a big laugh showing off her large teeth.

They apparated into a small point hidden by shrubbery at the very end of the driveway. Draco's stomach gave off a loud rumble. He stood up straighter after the sound, too proud to admit that he was hungry. The sun was bright on them, the time difference made everything feel off.

The house was an old cape, just repainted, which she was sure they had to do often because of the salt water. They were at the very end of the street, trees and shrubs lined the property to give them a little privacy. Hermione walked to the oak door and unlocked it, hoping to get some wards added to it herself by the end of the night. She would have to do it late, as they had informed her she had several muggle neighbors not far.

Draco walked in and looked about the estate. "The ministry didn't honestly buy this for you?"

"No, I came into a sizable inheritance when I turned sixteen, but my parent's set it aside until after school." she walked to the kitchen and set her bag down on the counter, opening the fridge to see what the house sitter had picked up for them.

"I'm going to make a sandwich. There is some things in the fridge if your hungry." she said pulling out the necessary ingredients. She made it by hand, ignoring the fact Draco was watching her like she was a houseelf. When she was done he reached for it, prompting her to smack his hand. "Oh no no no, Malfoy. What do you think I am?"

"You can't honestly be expecting me to make my own food."

"To be frank I don't give a damn about what you do to get food. You are a grown man and you need to learn how to take care of yourself, because you have no magic for a year, Malfoy."

He huffed, grabbing the sandwich things from her and began to slop together one. She could tell that he had never done it a day before in his life. She also noticed the way his jaw seemed to move and his mouth salivate.

Draco hadn't eaten anything other than the slop they served him in the ministry prison hold. He had been fortunate not to go to Azkaban, but it didn't change the conditions he had lived in. He brought the finished sandwich up to his mouth, taking a bigger bite than he should have. A slice of tomato dropped out of the sandwich and plopped down unto his chest. He growled at it, pulling the wet mayonnaise covered tomato from his white oxford. A giggle bubbled up from the opposite side of the table.

He glared over at her, her cheeks red with amusement as she tried to stifle her laughter. "That's going to stain."

"Clean my shirt, Granger!" he yelled after her as she rubbed her hands on a napkin and made her way to the stairs. "Granger!"

"Some club soda in the fridge might help it!" she yelled as she got to a safe distance. It was going to be one hell of a year.

She found her room at the top of the stairs. She was happy with what the decorator had done with it, wishing they had gone with a different color scheme but she couldn't complain. The walls were a bright red, matching the Persian white, red and purple carpet. Golden drapes hung over the windows, they were heavy enough to block out all the light, but she always loved having a naturally lit home. Her bed was a simple dark wood king, a little too much room for her, but she would probably end up sprawled across it. Heavy down comforters in white and red adorned it, she had been told the snow here could be quite fierce, but she would most likely pack them away for the rest of the summer.

"Figures." Draco said from the door, peaking in.

"What figures?"

"Red and gold, Granger?" he raised his brows.

"Yes, but you're in luck for your room." she said with a smile, leading him across the hall. It was half the size and a light canary yellow with silver accents. He walked to the windows, which unfortunately didn't have the beach view or the balcony like hers did. She pulled a shrunken trunk from her beaded bag, resized it and levitating it to the end of his bed.

"Where's the loo, Granger?"

"You have one attached to your room." she pointed to the two doors at the end of the bedroom then took her leave to unpack. Her phone started to ring and she couldn't wait to answer it.

"Hello 'Mione!" Ron bellowed through the phone. She almost tossed it away when he did.

"Talk lower Ron, you don't need to yell." she heard Harry pipe in.

"Hi boys, I'm just getting moved in now."

"How's the mansion?" Ron asked making her laugh.

"Not a mansion, but I did have a spare room for you to stay in but it's now occupied by a demon."

"Has he done something? I can be there in a couple of hours. I already applied-"

"No Harry, it's fine. I was just venting. Besides, you don't have to apply for a country to country apparating visa. I already have two in the works for you and Ron. That was the paperwork that I had you sign a month ago."

"I really should read the stuff you hand to me." Harry said and she could tell he was rubbing the bridge of his nose already.

"That would be an intelligent thing to do." she smiled.

"You guys will be able to come in a month. I'll set up another room for you both."

"Sounds good." Ron said and they fell into silence.

"Alright, I'll call you two tomorrow once I've settled in. Send my love to everyone."

"Bye Hermione." they said in unison before she hung the phone up.

She waved her wand at her bag, never getting over how easily her things floated to the right spots and packed themselves away. Draco watched as her things tucked themselves away from his open door, feeling the aggravation in him hit a peak as he slowly unpacked all of the things by hand. It did however give him a moment to look over the things she packed, she seemed to take great care to bring the things he would need, but also a lot of the things he might want. He reached in, pulling out a small metal dragon figurine that he mother had bought him when he was young. It activated with his touch and began to fly from his hand. He could watch the thing for hours, it had been his favorite toy growing up. It flew to the shelving, setting down in a spot it must have found comfortable next to a picture of Draco and his mother.

He finished an hour later. At first he considered staying in the room, at least now it was bigger than his cell and filled with pictures and things that reminded him of home. Instead he found himself exploring the house. He walked all the way down the stairs, finding a gorgeous hand carved table with balls and sticks on it. He stared at it for a couple minutes, not entirely sure what someone would do with a table such as that, perhaps it was a game. He opened the door to the backyard and found himself drifting out to the dock outside.

"Don't try swimming away." Hermione called from the balcony. He turned to look up at her, frowning. He hadn't realized how pale the two of them were until seeing her in the bright sunlight. "I'm going to go into town for a bit, I need to get some supplies. Do you want to come, or stay here in the house?"

"As if I would stay in this cage with a choice."

Hermione and Draco got into the car in the garage. He took a moment to stare at it. He seemed to be naturally curious about the vehicle but he wouldn't make that obvious. She turned it on, watching him glare at the car for starting with a rumble. It was odd being in such proximity to him during the process of learning about the muggle world. He had almost constantly looked like an affronted child every time he was confused by something.

"Turn right onto Lafayette street." the car spoke and Draco's eyes narrowed further.

"Why is this thing ordering you to take a certain way?"

"First, it's an automobile or car for short. This little screen here is called a GPS, it gives directions to muggles so they can find their destination without trouble."

"I don't get why you don't just use point me."

"Because my wand won't be very effective to tell me which road to take." she said taking her right. They drove past The House of Seven Gables, turning down a small dirt road on Fort Ave that to muggles looked like nothing more than a service road, but once you walked past the tree line and the barrier there the magical district came into view. She parked the car, turning it off. "I hear it is quite the shopping district, much like Diagon Alley. Oh before we go." she waved her wand over both of them. A small recognize-me-not charm.

"Will you just stop talking, Granger?"

They walked through the barrier and Hermione was delighted with how old, yet refreshing the market place was. They walked down the streets until she found a potion ingredient's store called Parker's Potions. Hermione looked about at the names of the stores, surprised by how many were named after the women accused of witchcraft in the 1600's.

"Good afternoon! How can I help you two?" A young woman with blonde hair and bright green eyes asked from behind the counter. She was tiny, could be mistaken for a child with her big smile and spunky short cut hair.

"I have a list of ingredients I was hoping you could get for me." Hermione pulled the parchment from her purse and the girl behind the counter laughed.

"If it wasn't your accent that tipped me off it was the parchment." she moved around the store in a flurry, gathering up the ingredients and setting them into a sturdy box for her. "You only have cauldron on here, is there a specific kind you would like? I recommend with the ingredients you got to use pewter."

"I'll actually need one pewter and one silver please."

"Do you need the pewter one in collapsible or do you prefer it solid?"

"Both solid please."

The small woman heaved the silver pot unto the counter, followed by the pewter. "That will be five hundred and sixty two dollars and twelve cents."

"What is that in galleons?" Draco asked, confused by the money rates here.

"About 57 galleons." Hermione said pulling out the muggle money.

"What's with the paper, Granger?" He scoffed, "Are you going to pay her or did you borrow 'I owe you' later notes from the Weasleys?"

"Doesn't get out much, does he?" she smiled again taking the money from her.

"That's not seriously currency is it? It's a stack of paper. How can that honestly be of value?"

"Muggles in England use bank notes too, Malfoy."

"You're names sound familiar." the blonde said and seemed to be thinking really hard about it. Hermione smiled, happy that the charm was working for them, a little anonymity never hurt.

"I'm Hermione and this is Draco. We just moved here."

"Morgan." she smiled greeting herself, but luckily not putting two and two together.

Hermione found a bookstore next, listening to an audible groan from Malfoy when he realized where they were headed. She wanted to pick up some books about the history of Salem. The trials had always interested her but the muggle side only told a snip of the truth. The book keeper piled them high for her, recommending the top three as the most comprehensive, where the others held a lot of conjecture.

"Honestly Granger, everyone knows what the muggles did." Draco said as she shrunk the books and placed them in her bag.

"I've only ever heard the muggle side." she defended her purchase, suddenly feeling bad that she didn't offer him the allowance Narcissa had given him at the manor. His eyes had drifted to the broom shop a couple times. It wouldn't be right however, he had to learn to live without magic. After a moment of consideration she smirked, he didn't deserve a damn thing. He needed to pay the price for his actions.

"Are you almost done here?" he said with his usual air of annoyance.

"I suppose so. If I knew you were going to be such a prat about it I would have just left you at the house."

"Yes, because no one ever gets tired of running endless errands with you." he huffed rolling his eyes at her. "How do Potter and Weasley put up with it?"

"Whatever, Malfoy. Let's head back."

As they pulled in a woman in sky high red heels and a bright red sun dress came up the driveway. She was carrying a large platter in her hands, oven mitts and all. Hermione met her halfway, silently going over if she left anything out that would seem suspicious. "Hello."

"Hi there, new neighbor!" the woman smiled, her blood red lip stick bright against her pale skin. "I took the liberty of making you lasagna. I hope you're not a vegetarian or gluten-free."

"I'm not." Hermione said looking at the large pan. "Is it still hot."

"Absolutely piping. Mind if I bring it in?" she said and Hermione opened the door up for her. Draco appeared behind them, walking like Hermione's shadow as the woman walked right to the kitchen and set it down on the counter. "Oh! I didn't see you there, big guy!" Draco didn't answer back, he just watched her with a look Hermione was familiar with.

"He's not very talkative. We just got in today so right now it would normally be midnight for us."

"You must be tired!" she grabbed the teapot from the counter and filled it full of fresh water, leaving Hermione and Draco to watch the woman become very comfortable with their house. "I'm Scarlett."

"Really take the name to heart, don't you?" Draco muttered, but she turned with a smile on her face.

"Oh this?" she gestured to her all red outfit. "My husband's job had a company picnic and they are very funny about their colors. So what's do I call you?"

"That rude prat is Draco, and I'm Hermione."

"Strange names." she said eyeing them closely but after a moment went back to her line of questions. "You look barely out of high school. What are you doing here in Salem?"

"Work for us starts in the fall. We're helping out at a boarding school nearby."

"Oh, you work together? What a cute couple."

"Were just associates." Draco finally said walking to the lasagna and pulling open the cover. He grabbed a plate and fork for himself, spooning out a hefty helping onto his plate before settling back in one of the chairs at the island in the center of the kitchen.

"Right. I understand. You British folk can be so private." she laughed. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you two often. We should do a brunch soon, I can show you Salem."

"Sure Scarlett, thank you." Hermione said as the teapot squealed.

"Black tea should help you stay awake for a few more hours so you can fix your sleep patterns. Bye Draco." she winked as she sauntered out and Hermione closed the door behind her before removing the whistling pot from the stove top.

"Muggles sure do make themselves at home where they don't belong don't they?" Draco stabbed the lasagna, taking another bite of it.

"She was rather friendly." Hermione said gathering a plate for herself.

"At least the muggle made a good lasagna." he took another bite. Hermione was surprised he touched it in the first place.

Hermione fought to stay awake until just at nine o'clock. Draco had wandered off to the basement hours before to try and figure out the pool table. She could just barely hear the crashing of the balls together, which meant he was either destroying the thing or actually playing it correctly. She moved upstairs slowly, her languished body too tired from travel, but she knew the second she laid down her head she would be awake again. It happened almost every night.

Closing her eyes put her back in that tent, on the floor of Malfoy Manor, huddled in the rubble as Nagini came close enough to bite. She rubbed her arm absentmindedly, feeling the raise of the scar through the thin fabric.

She cursed herself for not packing some dreamless sleep potions and made her way down to the basement. Draco, who was still figuring out the pool table looked up at her like he wanted to ask a question but quickly swallowed the urge back down when she moved the bookshelf out of the way to reveal a potion brewing room. Excited he tried to follow only to be stung as he tried to cross the threshold. "No magic, Malfoy."

"Not even potions? Are you kidding me?" he yelled, as she started to mix the ingredients for her potion.

"Not my decision, I just reinforce it." Hermione said mixing everything in. For the strength she wanted she would have to leave it over night, and her eyes already felt like lead. "Hit the white ball into the colored ones with the skinny end of the skin, Malfoy. You want to get the colored balls into the pockets." She said before heading up the stairs to sleep, not waiting to see if he would take her advice.

"Granger!" Hermione thrashed against the body holding her down, it felt like Bellatrix was on her again. Tears poured out of her eyes she continued to fight in the darkness. "Granger, wake up!"

Her eyes shot open and she realized that the blankets had tangled themselves around her. She narrowed her eyes, barely making out the dark figure at her door. She turned on the lamp next to her bed and shook the sleep out of her.

"Where are the candles in this place?"

"There are switches for the lights." Hermione said groggily pointing at one next to her door. "There should be one right next to your bedroom door too."

"And how does that do anything?"

"We call it electricity, Malfoy, and can I go back to bed without you bothering me for a lesson."

Draco glared at her, testing out the switch next to her door, watching it light up and turn off. He left her in the darkness, his eyes already burned with the image of her scantily clad. Of course the crazy hair and tears in her eyes were enough to quell the strange tingle he got at first.

"First female that has shown you any attention in months." he whispered to himself. As if to remind him that she was nothing but a mudblood. She wasn't worth him.

He sank into the bed, falling asleep in an instant.

* * *

More soon, leave me a note if you have a second! thank you - Rose


End file.
